If you want to become an Office master, you need to become an expert in file management. Thankfully, Woody Leonhard and Ed Bott are here to provide tips and strategies for navigating and organizing your files like a pro using the new Microsoft Office XML Format.

Secrets of the Office Masters: Folder Options That Make Your Life Easier 73

The New File Formats in Office 2007

If you want to become an Office master, you need to become an expert in file management. Without a sensible file-naming strategy and a clear understanding of where and how Office stores files, you'll quickly be overwhelmed by the sheer number of files that Office programs generate.

Fortunately, Office 2007 integrates well with Windows Explorer, the essential file management tool used throughout the operating system. The common Open and Save As dialog boxes used throughout Office act like mini-Explorer windows, and unlike previous Office versions, the Places bar at the left of these dialog boxes is identical to the one found in other Windows programs.

What is absolutely new in Office 2007 is the use of an XML-based file format. It's officially called "Microsoft Office XML Format" and applies to all documents created in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In the next section, we discuss what the advantages are of this new file format and then later on we talk about how to interoperate with older documents.